Justice: UT, A&M engage in silly blame game

Updated 12:56 am, Friday, August 26, 2011

Vince Young (10) meets with Reggie McNeal of the Aggies back in 2005. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Vince Young (10) meets with Reggie McNeal of the Aggies back in 2005. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Photo: Ronald Martinez, Staff

Justice: UT, A&M engage in silly blame game

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I spoke with a high-level donor from a certain Big 12 school Wednesday afternoon. I will refer to him only as The Tall Grocer.

I telephoned to ask him about Wandy Rodriguez, uh, I mean another matter, and in the course of the conversation, I mentioned the Big 12 Conference.

"Why don't you get the Aggies and Longhorns in a room and force them to discuss their differences?" I said.

You would have thought I'd asked about Carlos Lee, uh, I mean one of his poor business decisions.

"You think I haven't tried?" The Tall Grocer asked. "I've been preaching that for weeks."

What about reaching out to Texas A&M and setting up a meeting with the schools they're not mad at?

"Tried that, too," he said.

What's done is done. Texas A&M formally notified the Big 12 on Thursday that it's shopping for a new conference. The Big 12 must decide whether it'll fight the departure or negotiate an exit fee.

One of the University of Texas big-money guys hinted that DeLoss Dodds had indeed reached out to A&M in the past 10 days to see if there was room for discussion.

"They didn't want to talk," he said.

You mean they wouldn't even sit down and discuss things?

"Right," he said.

I'm not sure whether his spin on the story is accurate because in the last few days both schools have been working like crazy to make the other look like the bad guy.

This was an inevitable conclusion, and even though it could end up being bad for both schools, all they care about is spinning the story a certain way.

The Longhorns say the Aggies were shopping for a new conference long before the Longhorn Network was born. Texas A&M says it began shopping for a new conference because Texas tried to strong arm it into the Pac-10.

And then when they fully realized the potential impact of the Texas partnership with ESPN, they had no choice.

In the end, they are both to blame. Texas allowed its greed to overwhelm its judgment. Meanwhile, Texas A&M decided to leave the Big 12 and worry about the consequences later.

It's not in A&M's best interests to leave. Suddenly, A&M's road to a BCS bowl got much tougher. A&M had just pulled even with Texas in the Big 12. Now it may fall into second-tier status in the SEC.

But at least those Aggies showed the Longhorns who is boss, and that's all that matters.

Wall-to-wall volleyball

If the Aggies had to go, you would have thought they would have waited until today's launch of the Longhorn Network.

On this first weekend, the schedule includes three women's volleyball games, one women's soccer game, and a bunch of interviews with Mack Brown and his players. And you were just thinking there's nothing good on television anymore.

To A&M, programming is secondary to perception. ESPN is bringing in its College Gameday stars for the startup, and the Aggies are outraged that their biggest rival is now a corporate partner with the most powerful sports media company on earth.

It's in ESPN's best interests for Texas to do well. So do you think ESPN will be doing any real digging if Yahoo! Sports breaks an ugly story on Texas recruiting?

Regardless of the truth, the perception looks awful for ESPN. So nothing ESPN reports about Texas, nothing any of its commentators say about the Longhorns, will be worth a bucket of warm spit.

The Texas high-roller told me that someday I'd understand what was at play here. He said the media landscape was changing more quickly than I could comprehend, and that five years from now, Dodds will be hailed as a visionary for figuring out a better way of delivering content.

He was unbothered by the possibility of Texas having to play as an independent or losing century-old rivalries. He said Texas is doing something to build its own brand.

"Maybe," he said, "the Aggies are just jealous they couldn't get this deal."

Fighting like a Bear

Words like these may make it seem like nothing can be done to keep Texas A&M from going to the SEC. But the Tall Grocer hasn't given up.

"We're going to keep working," he said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with every word you wrote in your column. You and I grew up with the Southwest Conference. These rivalries have meaning. And there's no reason this has to happen."

He's particularly sensitive to how a certain school in Waco will be affected. The Big 12 will survive if Texas A&M is the only school to leave, but if Oklahoma goes, you can turn out the lights.

Texas will become an independent, and Baylor and Texas Tech might very well be left by the side of the road.

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